Wednesday, November 6, 2013

1956 Chevrolet SR-2

Chevrolet SR-2, 1956

A stock Vette with a longer nose, side scoops, and a dorsal fin, the SR-2 was raced by Harley Earl’s son Jerry and used to prove out heavy-duty components later offered on production cars. It was banished from the show circuit when the Big Three swore off racing.
 
Chevrolet SR-2, 1956
 
The SR-2 acronym stood for “Sebring Racer” or alternatively “Sports Racing”. Starting with a Sebring Corvette chassis, the SR-2 sprouted a rear fin, two small racing windscreens, air scoops on the side coves and an extended front end with driving lights that gave the machine a purposeful appearance.
 
Chevrolet SR-2, 1956

When Jerry Earl announced he was going to race a Ferrari 250 MM, his father, Harley Earl, commissioned a racing Corvette for him instead. Chevy already had the 1956 Sebring Racers, but Harvey Earl had his designers create a hotter looking Corvette for his son to race. The result was the very first Corvette SR-2.
 
Chevrolet SR-2, 1956

This “low fin” design had a rear fin that had the same height as the top of the rear deck. It also had a longer nose as the standard Corvette, fairing cones for the headlamps, fog lights in place of turn signals and air scoops at the end of the body side cove. William L. Mitchell had an SR-2 built with a taller fin integrated into a Jaguar D-type style of headrest. Notice the Corvette logo on the tail fin!